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“This is not the computer for you”

samhenri.gold

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Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#321

Post by carlosjobim »

orbital-decay wrote: post #314
carlosjobim wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's very true, and it's a great tragedy. Kids get skilled in troubleshooting awful computers instead of getting skilled in creative things which actually have future value. As for piracy, it's just as easy on a Mac, and MacOS has more quality software than any other platform - unless you're talking about software used in factories and such. But how many kids actually "save up" for a computer vs being given one by…

I think you're making it sound like they're forced to build Linux from scratch while walking knee deep in the snow, uphill both ways. That's way too detached from reality and certainly it's not a "tragedy". Kids are not doing specialized things that only have future value, they tinker with everything. Usually on what's available, yes. >and MacOS has more quality software than any other platform This is simply untrue,…

Windows have also always required a lot of tinkering and trouble shooting to make things work in a pleasant way.

But for Linux, the creative software simply isn't there in many cases for a kid to start learning. Unless it's programming, which is not everybody's talent.

A kid tinkering with any kind of creative software learns and absorbs important skills which they can build on later if they want to. These things are much more valuable than system troubleshooting or becoming skilled in a game.

Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#322

Post by orsorna »

creshal wrote: post #215
RattlesnakeJake wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's looking back to a time when they were still special. When every keynote brought out a new, interesting product, feature, OS enhancement, etc. Back in the Steve Jobs era, it was still worth tuning in every year to see what was new.

Yeah, you'd find out about it all in the newspapers a few hours later, and none if it was "clap to yourself in an empty room" impressive anyway. I was around back then and I didn't feel the need to act like a drug addict whenever Steve Jobs opened his mouth.

Were you a kid then too? :)

Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#323

Post by dangus »

slopinthebag wrote: post #89
dangus wrote: post #11

I like the sentiment expressed here, but on this note, I think there are other dangers to consider listening to early reviewers: - Reviewers do get early access and often are receiving units AND doing their tests, writing their script, recording, and editing their videos before regular users can even possibly get a system shipped in. At best this rushes them where they miss details (e.g., few reviewers noticed that t…

All of the computers you listed have an inferior CPU, inferior battery life, inferior performance, inferior build quality, and inferior software for most peoples usecases. I know we all love linux here, but a lot of creative (or school, or work) apps that people use don't support Linux, so people must choose between MacOS and Windows. All of the "cons" you list for the Neo apply doubly if not more for the alternative…

Let’s go through these:

Ryzen 5 AI 340 has a higher multicore benchmark score than the A18 Pro. If you go up to $800 you get the Ryzen 7 AI 350 which matches or beats the A18 Pro in graphics, gets pretty much on par in single core performance, and that SKU has 16GB/1TB in its configuration. If you spend $100 less on the high end Neo with 512GB you get half the storage and lose a lot of I/O and get a worse screen and no replaceable SSD.

USB 3 5Gbps and USB 2 as your only ports are pathetic. Competing systems have more throughput and other conveniences like microSD readers, HDMI, and USB-A.

Inferior battery life, care to send me test data to back that up? Because the Neo is not a star at battery life for medium intensity tasks. It has the smallest battery of any Mac. Early reviews note that screen brightness and higher intensity workloads quickly deplete the battery. It comes with a very slow charging power brick. I guarantee you the physical size of the battery in that Yoga is much larger than what you get in the Neo.

Inferior software: highly subjective. There are over 900 million PC gamers on this planet who can’t play PC games on their MacBook Neo. Windows objectively runs more applications than Mac. Plenty of people I know prefer Windows over Mac.

Cheap build quality: again, Neo has no haptic trackpad, so it’s not that different than a typical windows PC.

Poor OEM support: Lenovo sells parts, Apple doesn’t.

Horrible screens: the Neo has the worst screen in any Mac, the Yoga laptop has a touchscreen OLED. Have you seen the Neo screen in person?

Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#324

Post by not_a9 »

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #107
rafram wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can't recompile the kernel or build your own device drivers. I just don’t think this is what, like, nine-year-olds are looking for in a computer. In any case, at least it’s good that they’re starting with macOS over Windows! Puts them on a good path to understanding that POSIX is the One True Paradigm and therefore makes them much more likely to compile their own kernel in the future.

I was that kid, and can confirm. My curiosity for all things computer related was boundless, but I eventually tinkered with Linux but only because I’d had been exposed to a *nix style command line from the comfort of an OS X desktop first. By then I had started messing around with code but had only built toys and extremely basic tools and would’ve been lucky to write a moderately functional desktop program using high…

> Writing drivers or poking around in kernel code was so far beyond the scope of capabilities at that point that you would’ve had better luck teaching your dog how to knit.

I get the feeling a whole bunch of teenagers have written drivers to cheat in Fortnite/whatever other game - with that being said, probably not at 9 years old.

Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#325

Post by cestith »

ghoulishly wrote: post #252
saagarjha wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When Chromebooks originally came out, that was not an option. And almost all school-issued computers will not let you do this.

Author of the post here. You nailed it here; I used Chromebook as the example in my post since the one I used in high school was locked down to basically a kiosk. Couldn’t even open dev tools, much less root it. Such a wild departure from the eMacs I used in my elementary school’s library where I could set bonkers `defaults write` commands and customize every aspect of my account. If I got a Chromebook as a personal…

macOS or Windows can be similarly locked down. In the schools, the school locks it down. In many companies, there are management tools like JAMF, InTune, or NinjaOne that lock down laptops, desktops, tablets, and cell phones a little or completely.

Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#326

Post by weaksauce »

meatmanek wrote: post #315
hylaride wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look, MacOS has certainly rotted over the past few years, but the primary reason I use it is because it's still a hundred times nicer to use than Windows (which is also regressing for worse reasons - shoving in AI and ads instead of benign neglect). It's still the best desktop UNIX experience, especially since cheap PC laptops (and until very recently expensive ones) almost always have horrible build quality. It's al…

macOS is the best desktop UNIX for one simple reason: the ⌘ key. The fact that 99% of your GUI keybindings use a key that your CLI tooling cannot use eliminates conflicts and means that you don't have to remember things like "Copy is ^C in Chrome but ^⇧C in the terminal".

using a linux with toshy to get the best of both worlds wrt keybindings. linux and kde is amazing nowadays... I don't miss macos but would be hating linux without mac style keybindings.

Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#327

Post by cestith »

butILoveLife wrote: post #222
hylaride wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look, MacOS has certainly rotted over the past few years, but the primary reason I use it is because it's still a hundred times nicer to use than Windows (which is also regressing for worse reasons - shoving in AI and ads instead of benign neglect). It's still the best desktop UNIX experience, especially since cheap PC laptops (and until very recently expensive ones) almost always have horrible build quality. It's al…

Oh man, you NEED to use Fedora. Fedora is the best OS humanity has ever made. No exaguration. There needs to be the best, and its Fedora. Linux gets a bad reputation because 20-ish years ago Ubuntu sent out free CDs and became the dominant OS. Ubuntu/Mint is part of Debian family, outdated linux. They call outdated Linux 'stable', but its not stable like a table. Its software version frozen. Bugs that are fixed today…

Debian stable isn’t that much more version locked than CentOS or RHEL. Debian also has the Testing tier, which is semi-rolling. Or you could use Unstable. Or if you’re brave, you could use Nightly.

Ubuntu, Mint, PopOS, and others with Debian as an upstream are not Debian. They build their own packages on their own schedules.

Fedora is not “consumer grade RedHat”. It’s the rolling release upstream of RHEL, much like Debian Testing is upstream of Debian Stable.

The main reason Linux got a bad reputation was the tribalism of people going off half-cocked talking about their personal preferences without actually working with the alternatives and starting this sort of holy war diatribe.

Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#328

Post by Shalomboy »

Outstanding article; I'm glad you put these thoughts into words and published them because I've felt similarly this week since I've had time and reason to reminisce on my 2010 MacBook. I had AutoCAD on that poor little computer, working at the pace it could handle.
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